Irish publisher in £1.5bn Australian media offer

NEWSPAPER publisher Independent News & Media has launched a fresh £1.5 billion bid for the Australian regional newspaper and radio group APN.

The Dublin-based publisher, which is run by Sir Anthony O'Reilly and owns the Independent newspaper, has teamed up with a second US private equity partner, The Carlyle Group, in addition to its original backer, Providence Equity Partners, to make the bid.

Independent already owns a 41 per cent stake of APN, whose assets include the New Zealand Herald, regional newspapers and half the Australian Radio Network. Under the takeover plan, a new company would be formed to acquire APN - which currently has debts of more than £316 million. Independent is also expected to remain the largest shareholder after the takeover.

The first takeover offer fell through after Providence could not agree to the acquisition timetable. The two sides have now resolved their differences and Providence now has a reduced role in the bid.

It is believed the deal structure is similar to the previous bid, which would mean that Independent would extract up to £277m to fund acquisitions, by gearing up APN.